New York City’s Iconic Movie Locations: Brooklyn Edition

Sure, when people think of films being love letters to NYC, they may think of Manhattan first, but Brooklyn has its own cinematic claims to fame. Here’s where you can relive some of Kings County’s most memorable iconic movie moments.

1. "The Warriors"
   Luna Park Scream Zone – Stillwell Avenue at the Boardwalk, Coney Island
   
   

   
   All the Warriors wanted was to get back to Brooklyn. In this cult favorite, when they finally do get back to their Coney Island turf, they must fight off their rival Rogues one more time. The stretch of Stillwell where Luther taunts, “Warriors, come out to play!" is now the location of the Luna Park Scream Zone.
   
   

2. "Saturday Night Fever"
   Verrazano-Narrows Bridge – Between Staten Island and Brooklyn
   
   

   
   The 52-year-old Verrazano-Narrows Bridge may be more well known as the scene of Bobby's death in "Saturday Night Fever," than as the longest suspension bridge in the United States. Now the starting line of the New York marathon, in the 1970s disco classic, the bridge is a symbol of Tony's yearning for a different life.
   
   

3. "The French Connection"
   Starting in Gravesend
   
   
   
   

   It still stands as one of the best car chases in movie history, but it should also be known as one of the most reckless and dangerous, as Gothlamist points out. You can recreate the scene, by following the path starting at Stillwell Avenue at Bay 50th to 62nd Street Station at New Utrecht Avenue. But please, travel at a reasonable speed and obey all traffic laws. Better yet, just cue up "The French Connection" on Netflix and let Popeye Doyle do the driving.
   
   

4. "Brooklyn"
   South Portland Avenue below Fort Greene Park
   
   

   
   When they chose the exterior of the boarding house where Eilis and the other girls make their new home in our borough, the filmmakers looked no further than one of Brooklyn’s most beautiful blocks: South Portland Avenue between DeKalb and Lafayette Avenues. You can see Saoirse Ronan strolling past the iconic brownstones around 2:07 in the trailer.
   
   

5. The Spike Lee Canon
   Bed-Stuy and Fort Greene
   
   

   
   Unfortunately, if you’re looking to grab a slice at Sal’s Pizzeria from "Do The Right Thing,” you’re out of luck. The entire building was erected on an empty lot on the corner of Lexington and Stuyvesant Avenues in Bed-Stuy and torn down immediately after production wrapped. However, you can spread a picnic blanket at the foot of the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument in Fort Greene Park and recreate Nola’s birthday dance from "She’s Gotta Have It."
   
   

6. “The Godfather”
   Hotel St. George – 100 Henry St.
   
   

   
   This scene was meant to take place in Manhattan and the hallway shots were indeed in Times Square’s Hotel Edison, but the pivotal scene that made sure "Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes" was actually shot in Brooklyn Heights’s St. George Hotel. Today the building serves as student housing for surrounding colleges like NYU, Pace and New York Law School. Let’s just hope none of those kids trip on that piano wire. While Brooklyn has been home to some classic and cult-classic films, at your next dinner party, dazzle guest with tales of two iconic Brooklyn films, that feature not a single frame shot in the borough.
   
   

7. "On the Waterfront"
   
   

   
   As the quintessential Red Hook longshoreman, Marlon Brando raised homing pigeons and bemoaned that he "coulda been a contender." But he didn’t deliver those famous lines on this side of Manhattan — the film was shot entirely in Hoboken, New Jersey.
   
   

8. “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”
   
   

   
   Well, not this tree anyway. Elia Kazan’s masterful adaptation of the Betty Smith novel about an Irish-American family’s struggles to make ends meet in turn-of-the-century Williamsburg was actually shot on a Hollywood soundstage.
   
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